One Month and Counting

I can't believe Jax is one month old today. Where has the time gone? In some ways I feel like this little guy has always been a part of our lives, yet I also can't believe it has been one month since his birth.

Jax,
You have changed so much in the past month. You are becoming so alert and interested in your surroundings. You love to be held and to snuggle especially right after a feeding. You also love music and will usually stop crying if someone is singing to you. Your father and I have come up with some "creative" phrases for songs when we forget the original lyrics but you do not seem to mind as long as we just don't stop!

You are finally up past your birth weight and seem to be getting bigger each day. Looking through some of your birth pictures today we couldn't believe how much you have changed. It has been such an amazing month with you and we can't wait to see what this next month brings. We both love you so much.

Love, Mom and Dad

Election Day

Jax got his first lesson in Kentucky politics and exercising his right to vote on Tuesday as it was the Primary elections. We only had a couple of contested races to vote on but I still didn't want him to miss an election day just because he wasn't even three weeks old yet. So we headed out in the misty weather down to the local college to vote. As Jax had spent lots of time the night before educating himself on the candidates and their positions and qualifications, he was not pleased to find out that he doesn't yet have the required I.D. and therefore could not vote.



So he had to settle for watching me vote, though I did ask his opinion on a few of the candidates.



I was actually most disappointed because I was so excited to get an "I Voted" sticker for him. Turns out they don't hand those out anymore because there were complaints from local churches and businesses that voters would take their sticker off and stick it on signs at the closest business on their way to their car. Some people ruin the fun for everyone. Oh well, I hope everyone voted and will vote again in the general election in November, I know Jax will!

Some Firsts

Again, I am behind on the updates. Who knew how little time you have to be on the computer with a newborn at home! :) We have stayed pretty busy in the Ward household dealing with feeding issues which I will post more about later. For now though, Jax has had some "firsts" that I wanted to share.

First trip out after coming home

This one didn't take long. We had to go back to the hospital the day after we were discharged to check his jaundice levels. At first he wasn't too sure about the car seat but now he usually goes to sleep within moments of being put in there.



First Bath

I have been so excited for bath time and was really hoping Jax would like it. His first bath wasn't a full one as he still had the umbilical cord stump, but I think it still counts. We are using the Puj tub and I really like it as we can have baths in the kitchen sink. Jax wasn't sure what he thought of the tub at first.







After the bath, Jax seemed confused as to what had just happened but overall pretty happy. He also slept well afterward.



We hope to make baths part of the bedtime routine every night.

First Derby

Derby is a big deal in our family. Jasper has been bringing his college friends to derby for over 10 years. My first derby with him was right after we started dating in 2005.



Here is last year's derby pic, out last derby before Jax's arrival.



Well obviously we were not going to be heading out to the track this year for the big race, but we still had a fabulous time at home. We even had the traditional Oaks and Derby day flowers of lilies and red roses thanks to Jasper's friend Ryan.



It was definitely different to watch the race at home, but Jasper was still able to send some bets with some friends and his group even did a joint bet and got the superfecta!

One of Jasper's friends that always comes to derby with us still came up from Alabama and went to derby. They stopped by after the races for pizza and to meet Jax.



All in all, it was a great day and I am already thinking about the cute derby outfits I can get for Jax for next year!

Mother's Day

This day has had so many meanings for me. It used to be a day I could give my mother something special to thank her for being such a great mom. However, the last couple of Mother's Days have been a sad day that I tried to avoid as it was a reminder of what I wanted so badly but didn't yet have. This Mother's Day I got to join that seemingly exclusive club and have my first special day as a mother myself. We didn't do anything special and I didn't even get a chance to wash my hair. Our day was full of feedings and diaper changes and I wouldn't have changed a thing because I got to spend the entire day looking at my adorable little man. Life is perfect.

My mom did come up today with my grandmother to visit so Gey could meet Jax for the first time.



Four generations on Mother's Day.



Finally, we had our newborn photo session yesterday. Our photographer sent me an e-mail today saying that she wanted to go ahead and send a preview picture to me on Mother's Day. I just love it and can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. What a great Mother's Day gift.



So happy Mother's Day to all you mommas out there, I hope you had a fantastic day. To anyone still hoping to become mothers, you are in my thoughts and prayers that today was not too hard and that by next year you have a child in your arms.

Baby Jax is Here!

OK so this post is better late than never I guess. As just about anyone who reads this blog knows, Baby Bird arrived as Jasper D. Ward V (AKA Jax) on April 27, 2011 just after midnight at 12:12 am. We went in early in the morning on Tuesday to start the induction process as Jax was measuring so large and I was making no process. We are so lucky that the induction process went so well and and so quickly that we were able to avoid a c section even though he ended up being 9 lbs 11.3 oz! It was all such an amazing process and all I could think when we met him that he was worth everything we endured during this entire process. This last week has been amazing and exhausting at the same time.

When discharged from the hospital Jax was a little Jaundice so we were sent home with a Bili light to wear. So he looked like a little glow worm! We were attached to a short cord so we couldn't leave the upstairs area much.



We had to go back to the hospital every morning for bloodwork. After the first night (which went well) his levels were starting to come down. That night (Saturday) was horrible. Suddenly Jax wanted to feed constantly and seemed hungry as soon as he stopped breastfeeding. He screamed like he was in pain and we stayed up all night (from 8:30 pm to 7:15 am) with him and he fed or cried the entire time. It was so exhausting and didn't just seem like normal newborn fussing. When we went back to the hospital the night morning his jaundice was almost gone but his weight had dropped significantly and he had lost over 10% of his body weight from 9 lb 11.3oz at birth to 8 lb 10oz.

They ran some more test and found out he was dehydrated. I was so upset because it seemed my supply was low and he wasn't getting enough. (Thanks PCOS you are the gift that keeps on giving) They gave us the option of 1) admitting him to NICU for IV fluids or 2) supplement with formula after every feeding for the next 24 hours and coming back. Obviously we opted for supplementing. I knew babies given a bottle this early were likely to refuse the breast afterwards and sure enough that happened. So now he won't breastfeed.

I have been so emtional because I feel so guilty that I couldn't give him enough milk. However we are all doing much better. The LC thinks we can get him back to breastfeeding and we have a game plan to get that done. So the last few days have completely centered around feeding Jax and he is gaining those cute chunks back. Honestly as stressful as some of this has been, just looking at his sweet little face just melts my heart. We are so in love with him. I am hoping to update more often now that things are settling down. Here are some more pictures of Jax. :)